Restaurant video captured deputy shooting Sedalia woman; she may have recorded it, too
Investigators have reviewed a restaurant’s surveillance footage that captured a Pettis County deputy fatally shoot a Sedalia woman earlier this month during a traffic stop.
The video recorded the June 13 traffic stop and shooting that left 25-year-old Hannah Fizer dead.
In search warrants, a Missouri State Highway Patrol investigator described the video as showing the deputy make contact with Fizer before drawing his gun. Fizer, who had been pulled over for speeding and careless driving, can be seen moving in her silver 2015 Hyundai Elantra. The deputy then fires his weapon.
The Star has not obtained or seen the video. Such evidence is normally closed to public view during an active investigation.
The Highway Patrol, which is investigating the shooting, has said the deputy initiated the stop about 10 p.m. that day. Fizer stopped her car between two restaurants near the 3500 block of West Broadway Boulevard in Sedalia.
During the traffic stop, the deputy indicated Fizer refused to identify herself. She told the deputy she was armed with a gun and was going to shoot the deputy, according to the Highway Patrol.
The deputy also indicated Fizer said she was recording the traffic stop, the warrants revealed.
After the shooting, Fizer was taken out of her car and as additional officers arrived, they administered her first aid. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:34 p.m.
Investigators found Fizer’s body on the ground near the driver side door of the car. She appeared to have multiple gunshot wounds. Troopers located five spent shell casings near the driver’s door.
No gun was found in her car.
Fizer’s cell phone, a Samsung, was found on the floor of the passenger side of her car. In one of the warrants, an investigator wrote he believed it could contain video or photographic evidence of the shooting. It has been sent to the state’s digital forensic center in Jefferson City for analysis and data extraction.
Sgt. Bill Lowe of the Highway Patrol said the possibility that Fizer captured footage of the shooting would be investigated. He did not know if she filmed the encounter, which is why a search warrant was executed.
“Anything she had said or he had said we’re looking into,” Lowe said Monday. “Just trying to gather as much of the facts as we can to come up with a conclusion.”
Lowe confirmed investigators obtained a nearby restaurant’s surveillance footage, but he declined to say which one out of protection for the business.
The issue of whether the shooting was captured on video has been a concern for community members with questions about the shooting. Pettis County deputies are not equipped with body cameras and their vehicles do not record video.
Fizer’s relatives have said they doubted the official narrative that Fizer threatened to shoot the deputy, who has not been identified publicly. Several relatives said she never carried a firearm.
This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 5:15 PM.
